PMD: Hope's Requiem
by ShizukatheBringeroftheDusk
Summary: A Buizel with no memory of a previous life forms an exploration team with a Treecko. Beyond their knowledge, a "Great One" is slowly re-creating the world to fit his needs... Rated T just in case I use swears.
1. For One, It Ends

A Sceptile flung himself from a tree as such an incredible speed that it looked like he was flying. _I must tell Lord Lycoris! He'll be pleased! _His thoughts raced through his mind as he continued to fly between the treetops, heading for a giant sycamore in the center of the grand forest. Just earlier that day, he was merely gathering wood for the nightly Leafweaving, a grand story telling "hour" which was _much_ longer than an actual hour, when he heard the joyous shrieks of Lady Ansyllis…

~~Flashy..flashy…flashy…FLASHBACK~~

_The Sceptile held an axe over his shoulder, whistling an ancient Bushfurrow tune taught to all the young Treeckos. He was off to gather Leafweaving wood today, which he thought was a good break from his normal "duties" which involved teaching the young Treeckos how to wield a weapon, use their moves effectively, and the best way to flee if the enemy proved to be too strong. They only want to do the best for our tribe, he often thought on starry nights or when he was alone, but they run me ragged! But today was different. Not only was he gathering Leafweaving wood, but he could feel that something big was going to happen today._

_A piercing shriek kept him from thinking further. Gripping his axe tightly, he ran towards the place where the shriek came from. Moments after rushing into a clearing, rocks of various sizes were thrown at him._

"_You brute!"_

"_Get out of here before you scare the Lady!"_

"_You'll scare the child to death!"_

"_Carrum! Go away!"_

_These and other shouts were directed at Carrum by Lady Ansyllis' attendants, a mob of female Sceptiles. "Ack! I'm going!"_

"…_Before you go, take a message to my husband for me." The speaker, a lovely petite Sceptile wearing a glimmering obsidian pendant, held up a claw and walked to Carrum, a sleeping Treecko cradled in her other arm._

"_What is it Milady?" He tried to look as attentive as possible while nursing a lump on his head._

"_You know that our child was coming correct?" Carrum nodded his head and she continued. "Today, she has entered the world. Tell him that Pitaya would like to see her father for the first time."_

"_I will, bu-" He was cut off by Ansyllis raising her free claw again._

"_Leave your axe here. I will see that the Leafweaving has a fire. Serissa?" She nodded to a hefty Sceptile nearby. "You'll find Lycoris in the Oplan sycamore."_

_She took off her pendant and gave it to Carrum, who took it hesitantly. "I'll be off now, Lady."_

_He bounded up into a tree and flung himself into another one, using the Bushfurrow's age-old technique for covering long distances in a forested area._

~~End Flashback!~~

Carrum's heart raced. It wasn't the task he was assigned that was making him nervous…definitely not **that**. There was some instinct in the pit of his stomach that was telling him to leave the forest and wait out whatever threat was coming. He shook his head quickly, eradicating that thought. No matter what the cost, Lord Lycoris _had_ to be told of his daughter's birth!

Distant shrieks filled the air, followed by the stench of blood and smoke. The forest was under attack! The sound of tramping resonated through the forest, along with dying screams and war cries. Acting swiftly, the Sceptile leapt out of the tree, breaking off a stout branch in the process.

"C'mon out you dirty scum!" He charged recklessly towards a piercing shriek. _I refuse to let my home be destroyed! On my honor as a Bushfurrow, I shall protect this place, or die trying! _

In his mad charge, Carrum was whacking the foliage in his way like a madman. He was in mid-whack when a searing pain suddenly shot through his body, quickly depleting him of his life. The last thing he saw before he died was an Absol padding up to him, holding a tiny Treecko.

"I am sorry my friend," the Absol said, a tone of sadness in his voice, "but the Bushfurrows are no more. May Arceus ease your troubled spirit."

Then the Sceptile fell into a dizzying blackness, never to see the daylight again.


	2. A Plan for Two

"Ugh," a Treecko with indigo eyes sat up in her bed, rubbing the area between her eyes with her right hand, "that dream again. I was being carried by someone…and there was so much heat around us, almost like…fire?" Loud excited thuds coming up the stairs prevented her from thinking further.

"Xiwng's here! C'mon! Get outta bed sleepyhead!" The owner of the thuds, a shiny Gible, jumped onto the Treecko, trying to get her out of bed. "She said that she has a gift for you, but I'll get it if you don't hurry up!" He giggled as the Treecko picked him up as she got out the bed.

"I'm up now Noru," she stretched a bit before addressing her brother again, "what does Xi want, _exactly?_"

Noru tugged at his big sister's arm, leading her downstairs. "She wants you to come outside, Shizu! I told you she has a gift!"

"Okay! You know my brain needs a twenty minutes to wake up!" She allowed her brother to halfway pull her downstairs.

"Good morning Shizuka," Shizuka's father, a massive shiny Charizard with a thin diagonal scar running across his right eye, said, barely looking up from his newspaper, "going out with that Buizel friend of yours again?"

"Yes, I'm going out Dad," she replied, grabbing an Oran Berry on the way out with her free arm, "I'll be back by 9 at the latest."

"Alright." He flipped a page in his paper while Noru dragged his sister to the front door where their mother, a normal sized Garchomp, was talking to a Buizel with slightly oversized crimson fins.

"I brought her Mamee!" He let go of his sister and went to his mother's side.

"Can we go now, Mrs. Tanuma?" The Buizel impatiently tapped her left footpaw.

"Hm…why not?" The Garchomp watched her daughter go out the door. "Shizuka, Silas wants to see you. Don't forget to stop by his house today."

The Treecko groaned. Almost everyday that crazy Absol wanted to see her for no apparent reason! Why couldn't he find some _other _Treecko to pester?! "Yes Mom…"

Xiwng quickly interjected. "We'll be off now, see you later ma'am!" The Buizel quickly pushed her friend away, knowing how Shizuka's mom could be if she got annoyed. She enjoyed not having a crispy Treecko as a friend!

Once they were away from Shizuka's house, the pair went into a carved out area filled with old exploration team logs and gear on the side of the town, where the Buizel began to speak. "Shiz, I think I have an explanation to why you have a Garchomp for a mom!"

_Arceus, help me live through another one of Xi's explanations. _Sighing, Shizuka asked half-heartedly. "What is it this time? Alien Dittos?"

Rolling her eyes, the Buizel spoke again. "Pfft. No…You know how a long time ago, our dads and Silas were old friends who worked for a far-off guild?"

"Yeah…what about it?"

"Well, the other day, I heard Silas talk about experiments done in some creepy lab! So, they _must've_ broken into that lab, freed a bunch of experiments, found you, and the rest is history!"

_Ugh…Another stupid explanation. _"Well…I doubt that's why. Dad said that was twenty years ago. I'm not even fourteen."

The Buizel wilted, disappointed that _this _theory was wrong, just like the others. "Well, maybe we can ask Silas one day!"

"You really think he'd tell us? Dad probably told him to keep quiet about it!"

"Yeah…you're prolly rig-Oh! I nearly forgot!" The Buizel untied a piece of white ribbon from underneath her float and handed it to Shizuka.

"What is it?" She took the ribbon carefully, half-expecting it to explode. With Xiwng, you couldn't be too safe, after all, her dad was a Delibird, and Delibirds often carry around explosives…

"It's a Focus Scarf! You always said that you wanted one, so I got you one!"

"But it's a white one…didn't it cost you a lot?"

"No…" The Buizel's tails began to spin slowly.

"Your tails are spinning. You're lying, aren't you? How much did it cost you?"

"It cost 5,000 Pok…and about a month of waiting."

"You wasted that much money on _me_?!" She stared at her friend, a Buizel who rarely spent any money on anything, in disbelief.

"It's not wasted money if you're truly her friend." A voice that definitely _wasn't_ Xi said, the source coming from behind Shizuka, also known as the entrance to their secret hole.

Shuddering a bit, the Treecko turned around, facing the creepy Absol Silas. "Hi…"

Xi stared at the Absol in disbelief. :How'd you know about this place? I thought it was secret…"

The battle-scarred Absol laughed and shook his head. "Didn't you wonder where the adventure logs and badges came from?"

"Wait…this was _your_ team base?! But what about the guild you were a part of?!" The two girls asked in unison, Shizu being more prying while Xi was being innocently curious.

"That old guild is nothing but rubble now…it has been ever since we destroyed _that _place…"

"Um…_what_ place are you talking about?" The question barely had time to leave the Treecko's mouth when Xi hounded her.

"Your dad didn't tell you about the forest the three of them burned down?! I can't believe it!"

"…The place in question was once know as 'Treeshroud Forest' in olden times but it was 'Erata Grove' when it was destroyed." Silas' eye were dark, as if he was reliving that day again.

"I've heard of Treeshroud from the history books, but not about this Erata…" Shizuka stared at Silas, feeling something akin to sympathy for the Absol.

"We burned the place to the ground…and I scanned for any survivors. The guild…wanted us to kill off everyone that lived there, but I couldn't kill a hatchling…I couldn't be the cold-blooded killer they wanted me to be…" The Absol's body shook horribly as he openly sobbed.

_Arceus…that's part of what my dad did? Why?! How come that guild wanted an entire forest gone?! I need answers…and I won't find them here._

Silas shook himself mightily, as if some Octillery had latched on to him and then, he continued. "I watched one of them die as I carried off the hatchling… After that, we left… The days after that were a giant blur until we destroyed the building that the guild was run from. After that, we came here and established a base…"

There was a long silence.

"I was, and still am the Angel of Darkness. The Bringer of Destruction. The White Beast of Disaster…" Silas broke the silence with that statement, walking away from the pair.

"…I didn't know all that about our parents and him," Xi began slowly, "maybe we could find out more if we asked around a bit!"

Shizuka shook her head slowly. "If you want to do that, go ahead. But I need _real_ answers…and I won't find them here in Atashi."

The Buizel looked at her friend for a while before speaking. "Shiz, if you're going, don't think I'll let you leave in peace. I'm going with you!"

"Wha-?! But your family and…and…" The Treecko couldn't find anything to say tbat wouldn't sound hypocritical.

"We've been friends for like, ever. I'm not letting you go off on some journey by yourself!" Xi crossed her arms, waiting on her friend's response.

"We'll start planning to leave tomorrow," the Treecko spoke after a long silence, "there's probably a Treasure Bag around here somewhere that we can fill up with supplies."

Xi grinned. "Good! Now, let's go off to the dojo and practice a few things first!"

"Sounds like a plan." The two girls raced out the old Exploration Team base and headed for the thing the town called a dojo.


End file.
